A/N: So I've been on a Star Trek kick lately and I ended up watching The Reichenbach Fall episode of Sherlock while reading Khan/Kirk fics and this happened as a result.
Chapter One
He'd failed.
Numbness engulfed his entire being as he sat in the Med bay of the Enterprise, pale eyes watching McCoy treat Kirk with his blood.
He'd failed to save his crew. They were all gone, killed by the very torpedoes he'd created to protect them. And now, here he was, once more a captive of the Starfleet, his fate resting in their blood stained hands while his family floated in a debris field somewhere in space. His eyes narrowed slightly and he tried to muster up just the tiniest bit of anger before he sighed, feeling every bit his 330 years. Why was he even trying? There was nothing left in this world for him.
Nothing.
He just wanted to rest, to let go.
"What do you plan to do with me?" He monotoned softly. McCoy stiffened and turned to glare at him.
"Why? Scared we'll torture you or kill you like you did all those people? Don't worry, we're not like you. At worst, they'll probably send your ass back to sleep." The CMO snarled and he just nodded not bothering to correct the doctor misconception. No use correcting something that had been taught for over 300 years.
The door to the med bay slid open and entered, face carefully blank as he moved to stand beside Kirk's bed.
"How is the Captain, Doctor?"
"It worked. He should wake up sometime within the next few days."
Spock nodded then turned to Khan.
"I've spoken to the Admirals about your fate and that of your crew."
"The crew you killed." Khan growled lowly, hatred overtaking the emptiness inside of him.
"It has been decided that you shall remain aboard the Enterprise until the Captain awakens. Afterwards you will be returned to the cryosleep." The Vulcan continued as if he hadn't heard the augment speak.
Khan glowered at him, hate darkening his silver and sky eyes to a dangerous slate grey.
"How very merciful." He spat spitefully turning away from the two men to hide the tears welling in his eyes.
Grief overwhelmed his hate and tears streamed down his porcelain cheeks as he pondered his fate and the...cruelty of the Starfleet.
They'd killed his crew and now they were sending him back into the cold darkness of the cryosleep to awaken in centuries, alone. Yet he was the monster. A bitter snort escaped his lips.
They should've killed him. He wished they had.
?
Kirk frowned pensively as he observed the augment lying in a bed on the opposite side of the infirmary, one hand cuffed to the bed frame in and obviously uncomfortable position.
He'd awakened three days after Khan's sentencing to find the older man in the exact same position and reports from his crew stating that he'd been refusing nourishment and hadn't moved since being sentenced. It had been the same in the two days the Enterprise's captain had been awake. Khan hadn't so much as moved, seemingly oblivious of the world around him and it puzzled him.
This wasn't the same Khan that he'd captured on Qo'nos. It wasn't the bold, almost obnoxiously arrogant criminal that had occupied his bridge. No, this man seemed...broken and it didn't feel right to Jim to have played a part in breaking him despite everything he'd done. It reminded him too much of his past, of the people in his life that had tried to break him and he didn't like it. At all.
"Shut up."
Jim blinked at the quiet baritone voice that broke him from his thoughts, shocked to find it had come from the object of his thoughts. The criminal had rolled over and now lay facing him with an annoyed frown.
"What? I wasn't talking."
"You were thinking, it's annoying." The other retorted yet his voice seemed a bit flat. The young captain smirked.
"So you can speak. Here I thought you'd become mute."
"Indeed."
He stared at the augment for a moment noting the depression hidden in those pale eyes.
"Thank you."
Khan frowned at him then snorted. "It was of no choice of my own, Captain Kirk. Your crew saved you at their own initiative despite my opinion on the matter. Had it been my choice-"
"You would've helped me because my death wasn't your original plan. If it were you would have killed me on the Vengeance. Even after beaming me aboard the Enterprise don't think I didn't notice that you fired your weakest missiles on us and barely damaged the ship's hull enough to kill us."
"Didn't do much good did it? Your crew survived, mine did not! Congratulations, Captain!" Khan snapped anguish and rage coating his every word in a deadly cocktail of emotions. Jim's heart broke and he frowned in regret as tears gathered in the older man's broken gaze.
"Khan, I'm so sorry that you've lost your family. You have to believe me when I say that was never the plan. I didn't even know until after it had happened. I would never take someone's family that way."
The augment turned away from him before speaking in a dull monotone.
"Can you do something for me?"
"Within reason."
"I would like my cryotube to be destroyed."
The blond froze at the request.
"What? Are you crazy? That'll kill you!"
"After the cryosleep is initiated I would like you to destroy my cryotube. I don't want to be awakened again. Will you do it?
Swallowing harshly, Kirk nodded and Khan gave him a grateful glance.
"Thank you."
/
The next day found the two men gathered in engineering with Spock, McCoy and Scotty
A strange sort of peace enveloped Khan as he stared down at the tube that would be his final resting place. Beside him, Kirk was frowning slightly starlit blue eyes full of trepidation.
With a peaceful heart Khan lied down in the tube, staying still as Spock and McCoy strapped him in. The lid closed and Scotty typed in the initiation code.
The last thing he saw before darkness over took him were Kirk's sad, regret filled blue eyes.
/
Kirk swallowed as Khan's eyes finally fell closed and for some reason he felt his heart shatter as he spoke the words that would enable him to fulfill the promise he had made to a man that lost everything.
"Destroy it."
McCoy's eyes widened as did Scotty's and Spock's eyebrow rose.
"Captain?"
"Jim, are you insane?!"
"What?!"
The young captain stared down at Khan's sleeping face noting the tiny peace filled smile on the man's froze lips.
"Destroy Khan's tube." He repeated in a stronger voice before turning and leaving the room, his three subordinates staring after him.
Tbc...
A/N: Sorry it's kind of short. However it's just a bit of a prologue. The real action starts in the next chapter so stay tuned.